The Quest for Home: The Household in Mark's Community

The Quest for Home: The Household in Mark's Community
ISBN-10
0814650872
ISBN-13
9780814650875
Category
Bible
Pages
201
Language
English
Published
2001
Publisher
Liturgical Press
Author
Michael F. Trainor

Description

We are the most technologically advanced and sophisticated people in human history. Yet, technological advances have not yet rescued us from social problems. We still suffer from isolation and estrangement; we long for home. This human urge for home is not unique to our time. As the first disciples wrestled with the implications of following Jesus, some were misunderstood, suspected, and even ostracized by those unsympathetic to the Christian movement. They needed a physical place, ?house,? that was also a nurturing space, ?home.? In The Quest for Home, Michael F. Trainor unfolds how one Christian community addressed the desire for home. He offers a way of reading Mark's Gospel from the perspective of house and household. This perspective provides both the architecture and theological context for a fresh reading of the Gospel. The wisdom gleaned from Mark?s Gospel community encourages us in our struggle to develop authentic Christian communities today. The introductory chapter discusses the contemporary experience for the human need and search for real community. This moves into a brief overview of the way the New Testament seeks to respond to this search. The New Testament writings are filled with references to house and household. How relevant this is for Mark's Gospel becomes the focus of the rest of the book. Archeology and Greco-Roman literature contemporaneous to the writing of Mark's Gospel are explored to provide a cultural and social sensitivity for reading the Gospel. The cultural insights and perspective gleaned from the preceding are applied in a fresh reading of Mark's Gospel. Finally, the book draws together the main threads of Mark's presentation and presents them to Christians today who are seeking to develop community at the local level. The book begins with an introductory chapter, "The Quest for Home." Chapters in Part One: The "House" in the Ancient World are "Mark's Social and Architectural Setting," "The 'House' from Mark's Greek Heritage," "The 'House' in Mark's Roman World," and "A Summary of Mark's Greco-Roman 'House.'" Chapters in Part Two: Reading Mark's Gospel are "An Overview," "The Homeless Wilderness," "The Gathering of the New Household," "Strengthening the Household," "The Missionary Household," "The Suffering Household," "The Household in the Temple," and "Homelessness." The final chapter in Part Three: Summary is "The Household in a Gospel Community."?This is an insightful and persuasive study that will interest specialists in the gospel of John and everyone concerned about Jewish-Christian relations in the earliest decades of the Christian movement.? Religious Studies Review?As they see themselves reflected in Mark, urban readers?actual household situations, not some miraculous fantasy?become the authentic path to discipleship and the means to reform society, one house at a time.? Religious Studies Review?Michael Trainor guides his readers through Mark?s distinctive description of Jesus? household. In this ?home? mutuality and partnership reign?not patriarchal domination. Firmly grounded on sound scholarship, The Quest for Home is a perceptive reading of Mark?s Gospel and an insightful reflection on the meaning of ?home? for our time.? Mary C. Boys, S.N.J.M. Union Theological Seminary New York City?When does a ?house? become a ?home?? How can a church congregation become a community? Michael Trainor takes up these urgent and contemporary questions in a new reading of Mark?s Gospel. The material and social setting of that Gospel is frequently the Greco-Roman house and household, explored here with a wealth of information from ancient writers and archaeology. Mark shows where the homeless can be at home with God. Michael Trainor has written a book that pastors as well as students and teachers will want to read.? Justin Taylor Ecole Biblique Jerusalem?This book is chock full of new, challenging, and exciting insights. Written in an accessible style, with helpful illustrative charts, it will be a boon to teachers and preachers. This preacher and his congregations are grateful to Fr. Trainor for his guidance on our way and in our households of faith.? Fr. Robert J. Karris, O.F.M. St. Bonaventure University?In The Quest for Home, Michael Trainor combines his notable expertise in New Testament studies with a lifelong commitment to the educational and pastoral life of the Church. He provides us with a scholarly, accessible, and practical reading of Mark?s Gospel . . . ideal for religious educators at every level and pastoral leaders.? Thomas H. Groome Boston College

Get the book

Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Search the book
eBay.com
eBay.com
Search the book

Other editions

Similar books